Years 9 & 10 5.3 Mathematics vs Years 11 & 12 General? (1 Viewer)

SuchSmallHands

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Just wondering if anyone here did 5.3 in year 10 and took general for the HSC? I decided against taking maths in year 11 & 12, preferring to bridge it after the HSC, but I got an 'A' (have no idea what this means really, my school didn't give numerical final marks to junior students. I averaged marks in the 80s, so it must have been a really low A), in 5.3 and I remember doing everything that the general students I know are doing. The last topics I remember doing in year 10 were quadratic equations and logarithmic functions. Does the general course really go that much further than this? It's just annoying seeing debate about making maths compulsory again because people who drop are useless in the work place because they can't count or add. I really don't think general maths would have made me that much more proficient than I was at the end if year 10 anyway. And technically, since you have a calculator in the exam room, you could pass 4U without knowing how to add because things like that aren't even in the course. So to anyone who did 5.3 and general and is now finishing up the course, have you found the past two years more of a revision period to make sure you didn't lose the skills you already gained? Or did you actually learn a lot of new content?

(Just to add, this isn't supposed to sound derogatory to general maths or the people who take it, I'm just curious as to the differences between the courses.)
 
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wagig

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Just wondering if anyone here did 5.3 in year 10 and took general for the HSC? I decided against taking maths in year 11 & 12, preferring to bridge it after the HSC, but I got an 'A' (have no idea what this means really, my school didn't give numerical final marks to junior students. I averaged marks in the 80s, so it must have been a really low A), in 5.3 and I remember doing everything that the general students I know are doing. The last topics I remember doing in year 10 were quadratic equations and logarithmic functions. Does the general course really go that much further than this? It's just annoying seeing debate about making maths compulsory again because people who drop are useless in the work place because they can't count or add. I really don't think general maths would have made me that much more proficient than I was at the end if year 10 anyway. And technically, since you have a calculator in the exam room, you could pass 4U without knowing how to add because things like that aren't even in the course. So to anyone who did 5.3 and general and is now finishing up the course, have you found the past two years more of a revision period to make sure you didn't lose the skills you already gained? Or did you actually learn a lot of new content?

(Just to add, this isn't supposed to sound derogatory to general maths or the people who take it, I'm just curious as to the differences between the courses.)
Depends on your definition of "here"
 
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You did 5.3, you should be able to do advanced maths... By doing general maths, you in a way limit yourself from uni degrees because most of them advise students to take advanced mathematics or higher. All sciences recommend advanced maths or higher. Better off doing advanced or higher than general
 
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SuchSmallHands

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You did 5.3, you should be able to do advanced maths... By doing general maths, you in a way limit yourself from uni degrees because most of them advise students to take advanced mathematics or higher. All sciences recommend advanced maths or higher. Better off doing advanced or higher than general
I know I'm capable of doing it, I want to bridge 3U before uni, I'm just a little over people acting like I can't count because I dropped maths when the course I've already done seems to be more or less equivalent to the general 2 course.
 
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Dude why would you want to bridge 3u? Legit not being rude but that's so stupid...
If you're capable of doing it don't hold off because
- it helps your atar, extension 1 maths is rewarding
- you wouldn't have to do a bridging course and you can rest during the period between post HSC and uni
- general maths ruins atar. Even if you get band 6, it has horrible scaling...
- bridging course involves learning 2 years of work in four months... Which is hard...
 
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SuchSmallHands

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Dude why would you want to bridge 3u? Legit not being rude but that's so stupid...
If you're capable of doing it don't hold off because
- it helps your atar, extension 1 maths is rewarding
- you wouldn't have to do a bridging course and you can rest during the period between post HSC and uni
- general maths ruins atar. Even if you get band 6, it has horrible scaling...
- bridging course involves learning 2 years of work in four months... Which is hard...
I'm not doing general haha I didn't take any maths. I'm sitting on 14 units at the minute and to stay in the region of 2-3 in my maths class in year ten I had to do triple the work it took to be first in the rest of my subjects. I found maths draining, and frankly a bit annoying. I like the more problem solving orientated parts (deductive geometry etc) but I just found it annoying having to remember huge lists of formulae and just applying them over and over. So I put it off for two years. I know it'll be hard to get back into it but I'll get there, I don't regret doing it the way I have. It's taken a lot of pressure off in years 11 and 12 and doing 16 units was not an option for me. I doubt maths would have ended up counting toward my ATAR in the end anyway as I would have struggled to have kept my ranking above 3rd (in a class of 20 at a small school). So while it might seem stupid (and I can see why it would!) to bridge 3U, a 90 in chem will scale higher than a 70 in mathematics, and they were the two subjects I was choosing between to take in years 11 & 12.
 
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I'm not doing general haha I didn't take any maths. I'm sitting on 14 units at the minute and to stay in the region of 2-3 in my maths class in year ten I had to do triple the work it took to be first in the rest of my subjects. I found maths draining, and frankly a bit annoying. I like the more problem solving orientated parts (deductive geometry etc) but I just found it annoying having to remember huge lists of formulae and just applying them over and over. So I put it off for two years. I know it'll be hard to get back into it but I'll get there, I don't regret doing it the way I have. It's taken a lot of pressure off in years 11 and 12 and doing 16 units was not an option for me. I doubt maths would have ended up counting toward my ATAR in the end anyway as I would have struggled to have kept my ranking above 3rd (in a class of 20 at a small school). So while it might seem stupid (and I can see why it would!) to bridge 3U, a 90 in chem will scale higher than a 70 in mathematics, and they were the two subjects I was choosing between to take in years 11 & 12.
Haha I was under the impression that you were in preliminary and doing HSC next year
My bad, for anyone who's in year 10, listen to what I said believe me haha
 

SuchSmallHands

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Haha I was under the impression that you were in preliminary and doing HSC next year
My bad, for anyone who's in year 10, listen to what I said believe me haha
Absolutely! Part of the reason I made this thread is because I don't understand why people take 5.3 and do general when it seems like they've already covered most of the course in years 9 and 10.
 

SuchSmallHands

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Posted this in 2014 HSC to get the opinions of people who had now finished the course as opposed to being half way though it, but if it fits in maths better thanks for moving it for me.
 

davidgoes4wce

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Just my opinion but Stage 5.3 Maths is harder content than General Maths Year 11 and/or Year 12.

I saw the statistics from the UAC website, it seems like the gap gets bigger and bigger as the maths knowledge/levels go further. Students tend to perform better the deeper the level of maths knowledge.

Currently, I tutor a Stage 5.2 Maths student I feel like that's more the equivalent of an average Year 11/12 General Math student. I will also admit I once tutored a student from North Sydney Girls (back in 2014) and I saw the content from their exam papers (Year 10) and it was of a higher standard compared to your standard textbooks. The student told me everyone in their school had to do a minimum of Stage 5.3. I don't want to sound like someone who just looks at 'rankings' or wish to start a flaming war but a top 75 ranked school in NSW, if they are doing 5.3 will outperform your average General maths student.

So I guess my message is if you did reasonably well in 5.3, the standard of difficulty will be no more harder than if you chose General.
 
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